the guy who had the lead and put an 8 on the board on the 18th hole. the question is, should a professional golfer really be playing augusta like i would? it's "way too early" for this. good morning, i'm willie geist and this is "way too early," the show that doesn't need a masters title to slip on a handsome green blazer on weekends. i'm glad you're up with us this morning watching on msnbc or listening live on sirius xm radio. shoot me an e-mail or tweet me@williegeist1. we'll read the best responses in the show. your cram session for this friday, april 6th. a lot to tell you about including get out the breaking news banners, bipartisanship in washington. we will tell you what brought eric cantor out to appear in

public with the president of the united states. plus, the story no family can afford to miss, the clock is now ticking on the new relationship between kim and can yes kanye. at 30 rock in new york city, rick santorum is leaning on his conservative base to help push back against the perception that the republican race is over. the former pennsylvania senator held a strategy session yesterday with key supporters in virginia. he did that in an effort to reboot the fight against mitt romney. part of the plan, reports say, is focused on convincing newt gingrich to drop out. something the santorum campaign believes will help its chances in pennsylvania's make or break primary on april the 24th. gingrich, though, says he's not going anywhere while romney continues to make inroads in santorum's home state of pennsylvania. romney told a crowd in harrisburg, p.a., he expects to

win pennsylvania in the general election even as he lowered expectations for the primary just to put a little more heat on santorum. >> i think someone in their home state -- people expect a senator to win his home state, but we have several states, the contest the same day, and pick up some here. >> apologize for the audio on that. as you could hear mitt romney, lowering expectations a bit in the state of pennsylvania, again, to turn up the gas a little bit on rick santorum. romney pivots to november looking to drop contrast with a man he hopes to replace in the white house. >> we have a president who i think is a nice guy but he spent too much time at harvard perhaps or maybe just not enough time actually working in the real world. i think to create jobs in the private sector it helps to have

had a job in the private sector. >> a bit of a curious line of attack since romney a harvard grad twice over and spent a year longer at the school than president obama. three of romney's sons also attended harvard business school. mitt romney has a law degree and business degree from harvard. meanwhile, republican national committee chairman priebus is deny suggestions his party has a problem with females. >> i know you don't agree but looking at the polls you have a gender gap problem. recent polls show a huge, huge margin for democrats with -- among women voters. how big a problem is it? how do you close it? >> well, for one thing, you know, if the democrats said we had a war on caterpillars, every mainstream media outlet talked about that, then we'd have problems with katter pillers, i mean the fact of the matter is it's a fiction. >> so the caterpillars line

essentially putting the blame on the media for creating the women problem or the perception of a women problem. the democrats jumped on those remarks saying they were completely out of touch. yesterday a poll showed the president was ahead of mitt romney by 18 points in key swing states. david axelrod tweeted this, from the department of clueless, rnc chair says gop problems with women are contrived by media. on to some business nut where economists are predicting another month of jobs growth. when the march employment report comes out about three hours from now, reuters survey shows most experts think the national unemployment rate will remain steady at 8.3% for the third consecutive month. this comes a day after the president signed the bipartisan jobs act to help small businesses and start-ups and, yes, this is eric cantor in your picture. he made a rare appearance with

the president to highlight the importance of this legislation. >> this bill represents exactly the kind of bipartisan action we should be taking in washington to help our economy. i've always said that the true engine of job creation in this country is the private sector. not the government. our job is to help our companies grow and hire. >> this bill tries to make it a little easier for the small businessmen and women who want to seek investors, who want to build their business and to retain -- and to hire more people. so it's a straight-up solutions oriented bill. i hope it represents the kind of bipartisan work that we can actually accomplish here in washington over the next few months. >> as far as today's jobs report goes, stock markets around the world are closed for good friday so immediate reaction to the numbers will be more difficult to judge, still, if the economy added more than 200,000 jobs in march as expected, it would cap the best four months of hiring since before the recession, again, those numbers come out at

8:30 eastern time. we'll have them for you live on "morning joe." overseas thousands are rushing in from syria as government forces expand their brutal crackdown against the year-long rebellion. take a look at some of these pictures coming in to us. president assad says he will abide by a cease-fire. you wouldn't know it by looking at these pictures. for now there is no end to the violence. >> reporter: this is how the assad regime is preparing for a cease-fire. just days before a u.n. brokered peace plan is scheduled to go into effect, syrian military has intensified its attacks across the country even using air power to attack civilian areas. and on the ground, the violence continues to claim more lives every day. despite sanctions and international pressure on assad to stop. rebel fighters say they will abide by the u.n. deal. promising to lay down their

weapons but not before the syrian military stops its assault. so far, that has not happened, says former u.n. secretary-general kofi annan who brokered the cease-fire. >> the amount of casualties and abuses continue to be reported daily. >> reporter: the spike has triggered the largest single day exodus of refugees from syria into turkey, more than 2,000 people fled across the border. >> that was nbc news foreign correspondent ayman moheldine. they would lay down their weapons less than a week from now. rebel fighters skeptical it will end the bloodshed there that has claimed the lives of an estimated 9,000 people. you can see why they'd be skeptical. here at home there are new details in the trayvon martin case as federal agents near the end of their investigation into what role, if any, race may have played in the incident. nbc news has learned the fbi is combing through past phone calls placed by the shooter george

zimmerman to the sanford, florida, police department. it shows zimmerman called the police seven times since august, five times about suspicious young men in the area. but those calls were made to a nonemergency line, not to 911 as previously reported. the recordings also show zimmerman never brought up race until asked by the dispatcher. >> is he white, black or hispanic? >> black. >> mr. zimmerman, can you describe the two individuals? >> two african-american males. >> certainly doesn't mean race was not involved in the shooting of trayvon martin. but this could help his case. although zimmerman called 911 the night of the shooting of trayvon martin, his defense team says the previous calls show the shooter was not motivated by race. it's also important to note that neighborhood watch volunteers were warned by police as recently as this past september not to follow suspects or to carry weapons. two crucial details ignored by zimmerman on the night trayvon martin was killed. still ahead here on "way too

early" this morning, henrik stenson was feeling good as he walked up to the historic 18th tee at augusta yesterday with the lead at the masters. well, eight shots later his birthday was ruined. highlights and low lights ahead in sports. plus that story about the new orleans saints' coaches putting out bounties now has a smoking gun. >> make sure we kill their head. >> kill their head if you couldn't hear it. the coach saying kill their head. we'll listen to the full tape and get a check on weather when "way too early" comes right back. frank buckles has died, the

last american survivor of world war i. he wanted to serve his country so badly that he lied about his age, first tried to join up at 16 and served as an army driver and guard in england, france and germany. ♪

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♪ it is 5:43 in the morning as you look at a live picture of the united states capitol on good friday. a check on your weather from nbc meteorologist bill karins. good morning. >> this looks like a very nice weekend. details coming up. yesterday we advertised severe weather in the southeast. we actually saw a good number of severe weather reports and thunderstorms but for the most part they missed augusta so they got all the golf in there. even atlanta really was spared the storms. this morning all the rain from those storms is now heading through the carolinas, so if you're in the charlotte area, raleigh, need your umbrella, light rain moving through. sprinkles near augusta but those will quickly be moving out and

should have a beautiful afternoon there. as far as what we're dealing with, it's another cold morning, great lakes into new england. you need the coat for yourself and kids heading out. we'll be warm this afternoon. that april sun is starting to get pretty high up in the sky. the sun angle and that will warm us up, 59, new york. boston, chilly. chicago, 55. montana, actually going to have a big snowstorm today. but that's mostly out in the rural portions near butte and bozeman. through the weekend looking pretty good out there. a lot of sunshine in so many area, willie, i'm not too concerned. >> they got in the masters yesterday. a little sprinkle. >> should be fine all weekend. should be great. >> thanks so much. sports. we begin with the first round of the masters at augusta national. tiger woods, the center of attention as he began his chase for a fifth green jacket. sinking the putt for birdie. finished 1 under. down the stretch ran into trouble. after bogeying the 17th hole,

woods finds the trees off the tee on 18 and it didn't get much better from there. woods gets it out of the rough. but rolls it into the crowd here. that's out of the pine straw on his third shot, kind of traversing the fairway, tapped in for birdie and finished even par tied for 19th place. not alone, phil mickelson had a rough day. on 10, slices it off the fairway. he's going to need help finding that ball. mickelson took a double bogey, finished 2 over. lee westwood making the putt for birdie on 17. had seven birdies, finished the day 5 under. the most interesting round of the day, though, belongs to henrik stenson, the swede playing on his 36th birthday and this was a terrible birthday. he led the field at 5 under as he got to the final hole. looked like it was going to be a great birthday but everything unraveled. frustrated with his third shot

on 18, that ball didn't go a anywhere good. tapped in for quadruple bogey, a snowman, an 8. finished at 1 under, ended the day tied for 14th place. entered that hole with the lead. second round action picks up today at augusta. just about two hours from now. we can all sympathize with mr. stenson. officials at augusta national say they will not address the growing calls for the club to change the position of not having women join the club and say it is a private membership issue. yesterday both the white house and mitt romney weighed in. >> the president's answer to this question, is, yes, he believes his personal opinion is that women should be admitted. >> well, of course. i'm not a member of augusta. i don't know that i would qualify. my golf game isn't that good but certainly if i were a member and if i were -- if i could run against them which isn't likely

to happen but, of course, i'd have women into augusta. >> president and the republican front-runner weighing in on the question of membership at augusta national. to baseball now, 13 teams opening their seasons yesterday. among them the tigers and red sox, sorry barnacle. got to show this. ryan swinney triples over val valver valverde. boston has new life. bases juiced for austin jackson. he comes through, pulls one through the left side, detroit wins 3-2 in front of a sellout crowd at co-mere ya park. great pitching performance from verlander as they usually do. indians and jays making an opening day history. two on for encarnacion. bases-leering double and that ties the game so they go to extra innings. in the top of the 16th, 16th inning, two on for j. pshp. ar i

arencibia in thele longest opener in major league baseball history. 16 innings. johan santana making his first start for the mets in 16 months. mccann swinging for out number two then he'll close out the inning striking out dan uggla. mets win 1-0 behind five shutout innings from santana. here's the back page of "the daily news." look who's in first, one day in, new york mets. "new york post" mets undefeated with only 161 games to go. dodgers open their season against the padres. new owner magic johnson was there to open a new era. top of the 8th. matt kemp shows off opposite field power. insurance, dodgers win the game, 5-3. stephen strasburg through a gem for the nats scattering five hits over seven innings, did not

factor in the decision but they beat the cubs at wrigley. 13 more start their season today including the yankees taking on the rays in tampa st. pete and tim lincecum going for the giants against the d'backs tonight. new details emerged yesterday in the new orleans saints bounty scandal when a documentary filmmaker released recordings of saints defensive coordinator gregg williams giving instructions to his team before their playoff game with the 49ers. williams makes specific reference to targeting the injuries of opposing players and to landing hits to their heads. >> kill the head and the body will die. kill the head and the body will die. we've got to do everything in the world to make sure we kill frank gore's head. we want him running sideways. we want his head sideways. every single one of you, before you get off the pile, affect the

head. early, affect the head. continue, touch and hit the head. we need to find out in the first two series of the game the little wide receiver, number 10, about his concussion. >> affect the head going after frank gore the 49ers' star running back. they recorded him while shooting a documentary on steve gleason said in a statement he would not have released the audiotapes if the story had not already been made public. coming up on "morning joe." rick santorum taking a brief break makes a trip to virginia to strategize with his supporters. the goal to get newt out so rick can stay in. we'll assess his future and hear harvard grad twice over mitt romney rip president obama for being too harvard. that's in just a few minutes on "morning joe." when we come back here we'll huddle around the water cooler to watch a video that's not going to be terribly helpful to

the gsa cause, after revelations of a taxpayer funded vegas throwdown complete with clowns and a $3200 mind reader. you can see the video when "way too early" comes back. my mother made the best toffee in the world. it's delicious. so now we've turned her toffee into a business. my goal was to take an idea and make it happen. i'm janet long and i formed my toffee company through legalzoom. i never really thought i would make money doing what i love. [ shapiro ] we created legalzoom to help people start their business and launch their dreams. go to legalzoom.com today and make your business dream a reality. at legalzoom.com, we put the law on your side. ♪ [ gong ]

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the show rick santorum making strategy moves in an effort to win his home state pennsylvania primary on april 24th. the pennsylvania primary, of course, a must win for santorum as a loss certainly would mark the end of his campaign. if you want to sound smart tell your friends the last big-name presidential candidate to lose a primary in a state where he had held elected office was california governor jerry brown who lost to bill clinton in california in 1992. george h.w. bush also lost the texas primary to ronald reagan in 1980. let's gather around the water cooler to talk about the government services administration's las vegas bender. we told you about this at the beginning of the week. they spent about $823,000 of taxpayer money on tray training conference in 2010 including clown, a mind reader, all kinds of bizarre stuff. the agency is under more scrutiny because a new video came out featuring an agency

employee rapping about extravagant spending boasting that the agency will never get caught. the video was part of that 2010 conference in vegas submitted as part of the gsa's talent show contest where 300 competed for a top spot to have their video showcased at the event's final dinner flaunting that taxpayer cash. ♪ >> want my picture on gnc where i swear obama better prepare when i'm commissioner. ♪ i'd have a road show every time he see me rolling on 20 in nye gop, '61 all fun can't touch it ♪ att can't touch gs-15 guns i'd buy everything your field office can't afford ♪ ♪ i'll donate my vacation >> they're boasting about all

the money they spent. now you can be outraged. let's get to the real important story here. i'm surprised we waited until 5:55. this is huge. huge. maybe not true but it's huge. the hollywood blogosphere on fire with reports that kanye west and kim kardashian are dating. did you hear about this? the pair spotted together in new york. went and saw "the hunger games" on wednesday night. went out to a lunch yesterday at serafina. he admits he fell for kardashian in his new single out yesterday. coincidence, the single out yesterday, dating kardashian. the song is called "they araflu and takes -- ♪ i fell in love with kim around the same time she fell in love with him ♪ ♪ that's cool, baby lucky i ain't had jay drop him from the

team ♪ >> the new name they're throwing out kimye. no, do we like kimye. still ahead on "way too early." while you were awake checked out for the weekend, tweet, texts and e-mail and "morning joe" is moments away. mine was earned off vietnam in 1968. over the south pacific in 1943. i got mine in iraq, 2003. usaa auto insurance is often handed down from generation to generation.

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